Canada is following in Australia’s footsteps and has closed its doors,
effectively immediately, to people from the West African countries battling Ebola.

In a move that puts Canada at odds with the World Health Organization,
the federal government said Friday it is suspending the issuance of visas
for residents and nationals of countries with “widespread and persistent-intense
transmission” of Ebola virus disease. As well, work on permanent
residence applications for people from the affected countries is also
being suspended.

Early flu outbreaks hit seniors’ care homes

Seven outbreaks of influenza in Metro Vancouver long-term care homes mark
an unusually early start to the flu season, a spokesman for the BC Centre
for Disease Control said Friday.

“That’s not a good sign,” said Dr. Danuta Skowronski.

Its weekly update on communicable illnesses noted “low-level”
influenza is above historical averages for the third week in a row. Most
flu cases have been in people over 65 and the predominant type of virus
is A H3N2 which is also the strain found in outbreaks reported in Alberta,
Ontario and Quebec.

New hospital funding model 'a shot in the dark,' McMaster study says

Review of 'activity-based funding' hospital funding model around the world
shows uncertainty.

A new funding model coming to Ontario hospitals is a "wild card"
that could create serious unintended consequences, say McMaster University
researchers involved in a sweeping new study.

The study focuses on a hospital funding approach gaining popularity, and
that the Ministry of Health wants to implement here. It would institute
new incentives for hospitals to decrease wait times and increase efficiency.

That approach, called "activity-based funding", would grant hospitals
a predetermined flat fee for providing an "episode of care"
to a patient, like an appendectomy, childbirth or pneumonia. That fixed
fee is granted "regardless of length of stay or actual resources
used," according to a definition in the study.